In
my humble opinion, Fly Casting and Fly Fishing Skills are at
an all-time low. What I mean by that statement is the number
of good Fly Fishermen relative to the total number of Fly Fishermen
is extremely low. It was a different story 30 years ago.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s you
saw very few Fly Fishermen on the stream, but a high percentage
could cast well and had good angling skills. Today, you see
crowds of people but very few can cast or catch fish.

I think there are several reasons
for this pathetic situation. First of all, nobody wants to Practice.
I run into dozens of anglers around the country that come up
and say "Your videos are really great".

After thanking them for the complement, I always look them in
the eye and say “do you practice those skills I demonstrate”?
Invariably, they dodge the question and say “where did you catch
that big brown”? In other words, people mainly watch the videos
to be “entertained”. This is too bad.

There’s so much information and
so many great videos out there to learn from. You’d think everyone
would be an expert, but nobody wants to pay their dues on the
casting field. After all, you can’t become a par golfer in a
week-end.. Casting is no different than any other sport. If
you don’t practice, you can’t acquire the skills to become a
good caster.

Popularity
of the bead head nymph is another reason why so many anglers
lack Fly Fishing Proficiency. I’m first to admit this style
of fishing can be deadly.

In fact, it can make a beginner
look like a superstar, but unfortunately, it inhibits the growth
of total angling skills.

Lack of competent instructors
is another major problem. It’s a case of the blind leading the
blind. I personally know dozens of so-called Fly Casting Instructors
that have their little “certified” patch on their vest and certificate
on the wall, unfortunately, most are dangerous with a rod in
their hands.

There
are literally hundreds of certified guys and gals across the
country and I’m afraid I’d be exaggerating if I said twenty
percent are “really” good casters. The bottom line is that you
have to be careful in selecting an instructor. Get lots of references.

Longevity doesn’t always mean that much, but for what it’s
worth, I ran my Fly
Fishing Schools continuously since the 60’s until about 7
years ago. For freshwater,
Orvis and Fenwick beat me to the punch by a year or so, however,
Capt. Bob Marvin and I started the first saltwater Fly Fishing
School in Key West.